{"id":24400,"date":"2020-02-06T16:47:22","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T16:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/02\/06\/barracks-heating-cooling-and-plumbing-renovations-are-being-planned-across-the-force\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:24:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:24:23","slug":"barracks-heating-cooling-and-plumbing-renovations-are-being-planned-across-the-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2020\/02\/06\/barracks-heating-cooling-and-plumbing-renovations-are-being-planned-across-the-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Barracks heating, cooling and plumbing renovations are being planned across the force"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Army is looking to renovate some of the more than 6,000 barracks it owns both domestically and on overseas bases in the coming years, but leaders plan to do so judiciously, prioritizing barracks considered the worst kept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Service leaders have made the Army\u2019s housing situation<\/a> a priority in recent months, though the public\u2019s focus has largely been on family units and privatized military housing<\/a> thus far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Army Materiel Command\u2019s Gen. Gus Perna held a summit in mid-January to review the status of the Army housing portfolio. Once priorities from that summit are set, to include the funding levels needed and the locations to schedule first, a timeline for barracks renovations will come out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston said that soldiers\u2019 barracks are one of his core focuses going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking at mostly plumbing and the heating and cooling,” Grinston said. “Those are outdated in a lot of places and they have to be updated, because that\u2019s causing some other problems. If the heating and cooling system isn\u2019t working and you got moisture in the air, you have the potential for mold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between fiscal years 2014 and 2019 the Army invested roughly $1.9 billion in repairs to 121 barracks, according to Army Installation Management Command. Those repairs hit barracks at places like Fort Hood, West Point, Fort Riley and Fort Bragg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fiscal 2020, the plan is to invest more than $700 million in barracks repairs, the command noted in a statement to Army Times. And more money will be on the way in the years that follow, Grinston said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, leaders need to provide a quality check for soldiers assigned to the barracks, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army Barracks Management Program <\/a>was rolled out in early 2018. It moved the barracks management responsibility from the brigade level down to the company level in an effort to provide more immediate oversight of soldiers\u2019 problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\t